Thread: President Obama to hold iftar dinner: Five facts about the M

President Obama to hold iftar dinner: Five facts about the Muslim ceremony

Continuing a tradition first started by one of the nation’s Founding Fathers, President Obama will host an iftar dinner Wednesday evening at 8:30 in the State Dining Room to celebrate the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The president is no stranger to the sunset fast-breaking meal – he likely attended many as a boy in Indonesia – but Wednesday’s event comes with a star-studded guest list and an agenda: reaching out to an important, and often embattled constituency.


1. What’s the purpose of Ramadan?

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calender and a time during which 1.7 billion Muslims around the world – including 2.5 million in the US – observe an obligatory fast from dawn until sunset. It was in Ramadan that the Koran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad, an event Muslims mark by fasting, reading the Koran, performing additional prayers, and giving in charity.

The Arabic word for fasting, sawm, means "to refrain," and Muslims believe the entire body fasts during Ramadan – the tongue from backbiting, the eyes from seeing unlawful things, and the ears from listening to gossip or obscene language, for example. As such, Ramadan acts as a month-long exercise in discipline, cleansing, and refocusing one’s attention on worshipping God.


2. What is Iftar?

Each day of Ramadan, millions of fasting Muslims eagerly await iftar, the evening fast-breaking meal. Muslims break their fast at sunset, usually with a date and a glass of water – a tradition that goes back to Muhammad – followed by an assortment of cultural dishes.

The iftar meal is usually made with family and friends, often at home, sometimes in the mosque. As the hunger pangs of fasting Muslims are meant to be a stark reminder of those without food and material comforts, Muslims are also instructed to feed needy members of the community during iftar.


3. Who started the White House iftar event?

Believe it or not, Thomas Jefferson hosted the first White House iftar. Mr. Obama referred to that historic iftar when he hosted his own White House iftar dinner in 2010.

“Ramadan is a reminder that Islam has always been a part of America,â€

related

Obama Marks Ramadan with Iftar dinner...
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... 0-05-12-56

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is hosting an Iftar dinner Wednesday evening to celebrate the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The Iftar is the dinner that breaks the holiday's daily fast. The dinner became an annual White House tradition under President Bill Clinton and was continued by President George W. Bush. The White House says invited guests include religious and grass-roots leaders in the Muslim-American community as well as leaders of other faiths and elected officials.

Earlier, the president has separate meetings with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Here is to every right thinking Moslem who wants to see our nation's Immigration Law enforced.

Provided of course that you have done it legally
http://media.meme4u.com/ecards/holidays ... family.jpg